Lawrence Hill is an internationally bestselling author of ten books and co-writer of the multiple 2016 Canadian Screen Award winning TV miniseries based on his novel The Book of Negroes.

At Stratford, he will speak about and give short readings from his latest novel, The Illegal, and discuss the themes of alienation and migration embedded in the life of his protagonist, an elite marathoner who flees genocide in his homeland and takes up residence as an undocumented refugee in a nation that does not want him. In a candid interview with broadcaster Garvia Bailey, he will discuss how world events in his teenage and early adult years led him to ponder the fate of stateless refugees, and draw connections between his fictional world and the plight of millions of refugees in the world today.